Liar, Liar
by shrieking minties 51
Summary: Temari's bored and underestimated. She's got the usleless father, hopeless brother, hapless friends. But with a secret: she has another brother in a mental institution. Gaara is slowly recovering from a horrific trauma he can't remember.
1. Chapter 1

Suna was known to be a rougher district; you could almost be guaranteed to find yourself in serious trouble if you wandered wi

Suna was known to be a rougher district; you could almost be guaranteed to find yourself in serious trouble if you wandered within its boundaries at night. To most that happened to live there, it was a dark haven of self-disgust where only the worst of the worst resided; it was a loveless hole of self-induced misery. And it was this misery that kept the most profitable business in town running. The business was a small, local bar- it may or may not have had a name in the past, the sign had fallen off nearly a decade ago- the locals simply referred to it as "That place down the road". It was shabby, cheap and dirty; soft, off-orange light flickered feebly through the grimy windows; the jukebox (an item which was slowly, scratched track by scratched track descending into the depths of "unusable hunk of crap"; from which it would never return) played music which was always the type you hear but don't really listen to, because it never struck you as a sing-along. Of course, the employees knew all the words of all the songs, but as there were only ten to fifteen that actually worked; this wasn't too much of a feat.

The bar had a few regulars; a hapless, hopelessly perverted, romance writer by the name of Jiraiya for one; he seemed to have a very interesting way with the ladies around town (translation: not once had he paid for their "services"). This writer was far more interesting to have a conversation with than he looked, as his years of searching for new ways to describe "romance"- whatever that meant- had left him with a more than sufficient vocabulary for good conversation and he certainly enjoyed a chat himself; though it nearly always involved innuendo or direct commentary about sex- (what could he say? It was in his nature!) Though if he were ever to veer off the subject with someone, it would be in a conversation with one of the bar's youngest employees: a blonde, with her shoulder length hair often pulled into four quick, un-brushed pigtails and a short fringe which she was constantly shaking out of her startling green eyes- eyes which held the cold, aloof look of a princess; and yet contained the warmth of the most giving mother. She was slender and of below average height, but built sturdily, and stronger, much stronger than she looked; her well-toned arms and calloused, short-nailed hands were well used to handling the gun she kept in her bag. Temari was her name.

I do it for the sake of tradition, Jiraiya-the-writer told himself; that's why I sit in the same seat every day; in the same bar, drinking the same drink. He guessed that maybe the monotony of his current habits were what was giving him writer's block. Temari-the-barmaid agreed wholeheartedly, she near pleaded with him to change seats; order something else…

"Just don't change bars. You're half my paycheque." Temari said brusquely one evening, "Now, what part of your new book are you stuck on?" Temari had been given- as now one of Jiraiya's best friends- a sneak peek of his latest novel.

"The protagonist's quivering member" he quipped sarcastically "the whole thing's just so…"

"Identical to everything else you've ever done. Monotonous. Dull. Overused." she responded automatically, "So you keep saying." She grinned cheekily

"What happened to writing it for the sake of art?" he sighed resignedly

"Money… corruption… alcohol…" She shrugged with a raised eyebrow and gave him his drink- not needing to ask what he wanted. "Have you thought about another genre?"

"Thanks love; and no."

"Oh! Oh! Write a thriller! With a government conspiracy! And a murder! Murders are always good!"

"Only intelligent people will read that!"

"So?"

"They're the minority."

She snorted and stared around jumpily, waiting for something. "Damn it! I told Shikamaru I needed to get out early today! That lazy fuck!" she slammed her palm on the bar, "I'll kill him. I swear!"

"Why? Why do you stay with him?" Jiraiya asked in despair, "A beautiful young woman such as you wouldn't be hard pressed to find another, more active and interesting lowlife to date, surely?"

"He's really smart; and funny…" she responded softly.

"And…?"

After a pregnant pause, she said slowly, "Yeah… that's about it…"

"Change of subject" he roared heartily after another awkward silence, "How old is your brother now?"

"Sixteen, that's why I'm leaving early, we're going to have a little party at the institution; he's been looking forward to it so much! Apparently he has a little friend there that he wants me to meet."

"Sweet. Wish him a happy birthday for me." Temari nodded absently, still peering out the window into the dreary street where her ridiculously lazy boyfriend should be appearing any moment.

"He's always late on Mondays…" she frowned confusedly.

Temari hurried out into the crisp, January air, snow falling from the almost unnaturally grey sky and into her hair, dampening it; half of her was in a hurry to get out of the cold; half of her was not looking forward to going back to her tiny home, as she avoided the messy apartment as often as she could; all of her hoping to _god_ her other brother, Kankuro, had bought their youngest sibling a cake instead of trying to make one himself…

She power-walked toward their small apartment, praying that she wouldn't detect any smoke as she ran upstairs; unlocking the door and shutting it extremely quickly (you could never be too cautious). "I'm home, you ready?"

"Shhh!" Came the reply, "The dragon is sleeping!" her younger brother poked his head around the doorway of the tiny kitchen. He ran a hand through his unkempt, reddish-brown hair, sending what seemed to be flour flying into the air.

"Tell the dragon we have to go!" she huffed, but still lowered her voice "…and how in the hell did you get flour in your _hair_?"

"Cake is the enemy…" he whispered and shrugged, as if that explained it.

"Why didn't you buy one?" she hissed, rubbing a tea towel roughly over his head.

"I had no money! I meant to borrow some off you this morning, but…"

She rolled her eyes, "Here's a thought! Get a job!"

"Hey, I tried!"

"When?! When you were fourteen?!" She stuffed half the tea towel into his open mouth as he tried to argue again, "Shh! The dragon is sleeping" she mocked him "and I don't need any more stress this afternoon; just take this- and remember-"

"He hates the sponge cake; yeah, he's my brother too, remember?"

She chuckled, "Sorry. I'm just… it's just… bad day…"

Kankuro's expression darkened, "If that- … if Shikamaru had anything to do with it- I swear…"

"No… well, yeah… he was late again; I'm starting to get really sick of it…"

Kankuro bristled, "Does that mean I can kill him now?"

"Gaara wouldn't like blood on his cake, sweetheart."

"You never know…"

"That's not funny."

"Okay, fine… after today?"

Temari punched him on the arm, "No. Get the cake. I'll wake the dragon." She ordered, shoving him out of the door; the disaster zone that remained of their poor excuse for a kitchen could wait. She'd make Kankuro clean it…

"The dragon" was, in fact, the code name of the third occupant of Temari's tiny apartment. The dragon was rarely woken unless absolutely necessary (for example, the last time Kankuro had tried to cook- Temari's previously long hair had caught on fire). The dragon usually spent his time sleeping or working or getting stupidly drunk with friends who, frankly, looked at Temari completely the wrong way. The dragon was also occasionally referred to by Temari in conversation with Jiraiya as "Bio-dad"; the man who had given them life and then… well, nothing much else actually (Temari was making more money than him at the age of twelve). Yes, the dragon was their father.

"Dad?" Temari called, shaking his arm as he slumped over the desk "We gotta go soon."

"Ugh…What the fuck for?"

"It's Gaara's birthday, silly!"

"Hmgghhh…"

"Come on, up you get!"

He waved a hand half-heartedly at her before rising and trudging off to the shower. Temari sighed, (vaguely wondering how Kankuro had managed not only to get flour in his hair, but on the laptop) and set off to her own room, which was not, in fact, a room but one third of a room. Temari often felt a little depraved at being forced to share a room with her younger brothers until the age of nineteen; but so long as she still had somewhere to sleep, she was fine with it- rarely being home anyway- she usually stayed at her friend Tenten's house; but it had become near impossible of late to have any peace at her house what with her, frankly, far too feminine boyfriend constantly around (perhaps Tenten's frequent- and often public- molestations were the result of compensation- or perhaps that's how a normal relationship went). Temari sighed again. Though she pretended to hate all of them, she would have given her right arm to have a decent man to irritate people with; her boyfriend could rarely be bothered to move away from the television set, let alone pay any attention to his lover.

She searched through her drawers for something to change into, settling on Kankuro's clothes instead (she never had much mind for dressing like a woman) figuring he wouldn't mind as he stole her money often enough…

"Happy birthday, Gaara!" Temari squealed, pushing her father and Kankuro out of the way and hugging her youngest brother with near-deadly force before they could; presenting him with a small package. They'd made good time in coming to the town of Konoha in only half an hour, normally it took twice as long- and Temari was ecstatic that she had so much extra time to spend with her youngest brother.

"Thanks, sis. And hi…" the newly sixteen-year-old Gaara stood before them; his hair was a mess, as though he never bothered to brush it; his smile was strained as though he'd never learned to do it properly and his eyes, beautifully green though they were, were surrounded by unnaturally dark shadows: he had the sadly frail and dishevelled- though well cared for- look of a person who was plagued by nightmares and lack of sleep. "What's going on with you guys?"

"Nothing much" Kankuro said, placing the birthday cake (the kind of cake that you're hard pressed to find any form of cake amongst all the chocolate) on Gaara's small dressing table.

Gaara smiled wanly, "Are you still seeing Shika… something or other, Temari?"

"We're still together. Seeing each other, however, has become less frequent. He can never be bothered to go out anywhere…" Temari laughed, Kankuro scowled.

"This the Nara kid?" Their father inquired gruffly out of the blue. Temari started before nodding; she hadn't been aware that her father knew her boyfriend's name.

"Come on, open your present! Open it!" Temari insisted.

"An mp3!" Gaara gasped "but- that's really…"

"It's got all the songs on our computer on it already, and the charger is there. We all pitched in. We figured you deserved a fairly big present this year… don't worry about money!" Temari chuckled at Gaara's concerned expression.

He sighed, but didn't argue; instead, picking up a small, leather bracelet from the table, "look what my friend made me…" the three guests admired the delicately decorated bracelet, "He's got a real eye for detail, huh?" they murmured agreement. Temari had honestly never seen anything handmade that was so cleverly designed and sighed; wondering where some people got their talent.

"Is your friend coming to see you soon? I wanna meet this guy." Kankuro said, still eyeing the bracelet, "He could seriously sell this crap."

"Worry about your own job. Or lack thereof." Temari snapped, instantly regretting speaking harshly as Gaara flinched; Temari was well aware that that motion was indicative of a violent mood swing, so she hastily changed the subject. "So, um… how have you been, y'know, feeling lately?"

Gaara shifted uncomfortably, "The medicine's working, I guess… but… I'm not sleeping much… I- I can't remember any of my nightmares- but they wake me- and they scare me anyway… So I'm a little tired" he answered honestly (Gaara was rarely anything _but_ honest).

"I noticed" she sighed, and ran a hand through Gaara's hair, resting her thumb over one of his delicately shaped eyes and the dark shadows that surrounded it, she prodded the brutal, still red scar of the kanji for 'love' above his left eye (he had cut it into his own skin during a particularly bad turn), clicking her tongue.

"Sorry I'm late, Gaara. I had to sneak off… the head nurse'll probably kill me when she can find me, but it's worth it. I'm treated like a two year old…"

Gaara smiled again as a cool, calm voice flowed through the air like silk from the doorway; where a ridiculously handsome man was standing. Part of his long, dark hair was pulled into a loose ponytail and the rest framed his thin, flawlessly defined features, complimenting his pale skin. Strange care lines that looked as though they had nothing to do with lack of sleep slanted downwards from his eyes, stopping at the bottom of his high cheekbones, his lips were curved into a sincere, but calculated looking smile; he looked nothing short of exotic and sexy… but what looked most exotic about him was his eyes; at first, Temari had thought it a trick of the light, but as he moved closer, she noticed that they were in fact, red.

She barely stopped her jaw from dropping as Gaara's new friend strode over to her, hand outstretched, "You must be Temari. I've heard rather a lot about you, Gaara adores you." he said. She took his hand, her own rather limp, and smiled with considerable effort.

The man turned to Kankuro and their father in turn and shook their hands. Temari noticed that Kankuro was just as disconcerted by the stranger's good looks as she was, though not quite as tactful; he was openly gaping at the picture of masculine beauty before him, envy apparent in his every fibre.

"Yeah, this is Itachi," Gaara introduced his friend, "-and that's my father, and my brother, Kankuro."

Itachi nodded regally at them, smiling that warm, yet calculated smile at the still-gaping Kankuro "I was going to bring party hats, but someone's having a bigger get-together downstairs." His eyes rested on Temari; she felt a strange, leaping sensation somewhere in her chest.

After several minutes of cake eating, and pleasant chit-chat (in which Temari discovered that Itachi had an excellent sense of humour, if a little twisted), Gaara broke the comfortable silence that had fallen, "Itachi came here a few days after I did…"

Gaara trailed off, obviously remembering the day he was committed. Temari remembered the day with a pang as well; they had taken him straight to a psychologist after he had, with a hysterical edge in his voice, told Temari "the voices" wouldn't stop and collapsed in uncontrollable sobs. The psychologist had said he was suffering some kind of personality disorder as a result of a great trauma- but, she had explained, Gaara's mind had, to put it simply; "deleted" the trauma- he couldn't remember a thing. Later that week he had attempted suicide- the same psychologist deemed him too dangerous to stay in their apartment unsupervised any longer. They were told there was no way to be rid of his disorder, but with proper treatment and counselling, he could lead a normal life in time. That was just over a year ago… Temari smiled sadly and took hold of Gaara's hand.

"You'll be home soon…"

"When we started talking, I thought he worked here" Itachi said matter-of-factly "You could go home any day."

Gaara looked at him gratefully, "You too"

Itachi shook his head, a coldly defiant look on his face "No. They still don't believe me. I'm not going home until I tell them something I myself don't believe." He frowned, "It's fine by me though; I'm safe here. Even though the food's not the greatest." He smiled _that_ smile again as though he were careful to let them know he was still sane enough to crack jokes.

After an awkward silence, Kankuro asked timidly "What- what is your story?"

"My father's trying to kill Me." he said simply, and, after seeing Kankuro's expression "You can think what you want. Believe me, it doesn't bother me anymore..."

"Itachi Uchiha?" a pretty, plump woman poked her head around the door "There you are, you naughty boy!" Itachi rolled his eyes "Your little brother's come to visit you, isn't that nice? Oh, are you having a party?"

"Happy place, happy place, happy place…" Itachi hissed under his breath to Temari and she barely stifled a laugh as he turned around, and obviously fake grin plastered on his face "Thanks." He shook everyone's hand again, his weirdly attractive eyes gazing straight into Temari's as he shook hers, their handshake seemed to take quite a while…

"Come on, sweetheart, you don't want to keep Sasuke waiting, do you?"

Itachi shook his head, "No, no." he coughed awkwardly, "Bye… Temari…"

Temari wondered about the handsome stranger as she changed into her pyjamas that night. He truly was fascinating, and to be honest; Temari couldn't see what was dangerous about him at all. She wondered, in a fit of wild imagination, if what he was saying about his father was true… though quickly scolded herself for being ridiculous. She walked out of their tiny bathroom into their shared room where Kankuro was already lying on his own bed, staring at the dark ceiling and looking concerned. She threw a nearby cushion at him, "What's got you so worried?"

"Nothing, nothing." He replied, rolling onto his side and grinning at her as she hopped into her own bed, "Just… well, that Itachi guy couldn't take his eyes off you…"

"What? Really?" Temari tried to keep the girlish giggle out of her voice _he's a mental patient_ she had to keep reminding herself. _Just… a particularly handsome and intelligent and funny one… _

"Yeah, really. It was sort of sweet…"

"Why don't you just hurry up and _say_ that you're gay?"

"Not this again!"

"_If you were gayyyyy_… _you'd probably go out with Gaara's friend_"

"Goodnight, my beloved sister."

"_And he would sayyyyy… 'How did I end up with thi_s?'"

"That doesn't even rhyme!"

"_Things don't have to rhyyyymmmeee … because I am awesoommmee. And. You. Are. Not."_

"GOODNIGHT!"

**A/N: Yes, it's a low security ward… a very, very low security ward… 0.0 SHADDUP! REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWW hands out cookies**


	2. Chapter 2

Even though Temari had continuously told herself that the handsome Itachi was quite probably dangerous; he plagued her dreams for the nights to come, and when she went to visit Gaara three days later, she couldn't help but be slightly disappointed when she didn't see him.

"How are you, honey?"

"Alright." Gaara mumbled softly "Still tired."

"Yeah…" Temari picked up his hand with her own "hang in there…"

"Why didn't Kankuro come?"

"Job interview. At _my_ work of all places."

"Finally."

"I was _just_ going to say that!"

They laughed.

Temari shifted in her chair, "So, Gaara, how's your friend?" she asked, 'Inconspicuously'

"Itachi? He's okay. Had a big argument with his little brother the day that he met you. Apparently he's really worried about him. Wants him to move in with a friend and get the hell away from their father…"

Temari blinked, "How did his brother react?"

"You met Sasuke back at my school. You _know_ how he reacted." Gaara barked. Temari winced, though Gaara was a lot more stable these days, he could tend to get a bit snippy if there was something worrying him.

"How ugly was it?" She asked tentatively.

"Not too bad. They glared at each other a lot." Gaara huffed, folding his arms and thudding back on his chair. "Sorry, for snapping…" he added, regret in his eyes "I'm just-"

"I understand- woah!" Temari giggled as her mobile started to ring, picking it up; it was Kankuro; "Yeah?"

"I got the job." He said simply, "-and I think your boyfriend's about to lose his…"

Temari sat up straighter, brushing her hair behind her ear "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I have hours that are disturbingly similar to his." Temari couldn't pretend she didn't see that one coming. Shikamaru was ridiculously lazy- their boss was probably sick of him.

She grinned despite the pseudo bad news, "I dunno. Congrats!" she said, "Say hi to your brother" she made to hand the phone to Gaara, but Gaara refused it, shaking his head stubbornly. "Come on, sweetie, its Kankuro…"

Gaara shook his head again; eyes focused somewhere above Temari; "No."

Temari brought the phone back to her own ear. "Gotta go." She said to Kankuro calmly, hanging up and turning to Gaara, who was breathing heavily, staring at the ceiling.

"Gaara- you with me?" she asked softly, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

He nodded- and she felt a minor relief, having been expecting an angry outburst. Gaara was blinking fast… crying. Temari's relief came crashing down around her and she shakily scooped him up in a cuddle. "You're okay. Shhh. I'm here."

Gaara didn't return or reject her hug, instead, he sat completely still and mumbled something in response that sounded like "-want to go home… so tired…"

"I know, I know. Soon…"

Just how soon was announced to them barely half an hour later…

"He'd be right to leave next Tuesday. With regular check ups. We think things would be less stressful for him in a home environment now." The nurse informed them gruffly, for someone who should really have been sweet and caring, she was very no-nonsense. But Gaara seemed to like her approach. "No school for a while, though. Socializing is good, so long as it's not overwhelming. I'll be checking in on you. Keep it up with your medicine."

Temari nodded, grinning ecstatically. Gaara didn't move his gaze from the nurse's face. Something like respect in his gaze. "Thank you, Tsunade…" he said softly.

The (rather busty, Temari noticed with a shudder) woman grunted in reply "You're a good kid." She said almost-reluctantly "I'm sure you'll be fine." She left, Temari thinking she had to be one of the strangest nurses she'd ever met.

"Her breasts are terrifying. But not as terrifying as her social skills." Gaara commented frankly. Temari burst out laughing.

* * *

"Kankuro watch it!"

Temari heaved a sigh as the tinkle of glass could be heard over the softly playing jukebox. Kankuro was her baby brother. She was so protective of him. She was so proud of him for finally getting his act together. She loved him more than anything. She couldn't imagine life without him. She would gladly die to defend him.

…she was about to strangle him…

… And Monday nights weren't even busy…

"Shit!" Kankuro, in a flustered attempt to dispose of the glass, had cut his hand open. Temari fixed the mess while he was gingerly picking out the scrap of glass still inside the cut, then she snatched up the squawking Kankuro's hand and dragged him over to the sink.

She ran the cut under the cool water while searching blindly under the counter with her other hand for the first aid kit, ignoring her boss' faint call of "That's coming out of your pay!"

"Kid, relax." Jiraiya called from his usual spot, looking up from his current writing material, "You're almost as bad as she was."

Kankuro laughed nervously, wary of the older man, Temari rolled her eyes "I was nothing like this!"

"You're right. As I recall, you didn't break anything-… except one of the customers' noses."

"He touched my butt, okay!" She argued, Kankuro laughed again.

Jiraiya grinned, "Your sister's one lady I wouldn't want to mess with."

"When we were little… she used to tell Gaara that if he didn't eat his vegetables, then ninja would kill him in his sleep. Come to think of it… that could be where his insomnia originates from…"

"That's not where his insomnia originates from." She snipped.

"I'm just saying… Gaara's psychiatrist would have a field day with- hello…"

Temari suppressed a laugh as Shikamaru entered the bar, both he and Kankuro looking warily at one another, then at Jiraiya. Jiraiya glanced at them both, and grinned at her. _Ah, the wonderful men in my life. _She thought, grinning back, _if Gaara were here, they could be the world's most disastrous quartet…_

"Hey." Shikamaru answered unenthusiastically, "I slept in…"

"It's five in the evening!" she exclaimed,

"Yeah, well…" Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably, he wouldn't look her in the eye.

"Everything okay, Shikamaru?" Temari asked cautiously and instantly suspicious of the way he was avoiding eye contact.

"It's fine- leave it" he answered under his breath as the first customers (Temari no longer counted Jiraiya as a customer, he was practically a tenant) entered. She took his word, figuring if it were something major, that her boyfriend would surely respect her enough to let her know about it, and that it was probably not worth stressing over, though he had been acting more and more distant of late. Kankuro on the other hand, stared at Shikamaru for a few more moments while Temari bandaged his hand. Then fetched the customers, a silver-haired man wearing a mask over all of his face save for his mismatched eyes and a bowl-cut wearing, green-clad, disturbingly shiny and exuberant man (you got all sorts in Suna) their drinks, still staring oddly at Shikamaru. Shikamaru ignored him for the most part, though Temari knew he was well aware he was being watched. She wanted to tell Kankuro to knock it off right then and there, but was nervous about bringing attention to the obvious tension between everyone in the room.

Jiraiya, she knew, was watching both boys warily, but was chatting absently to one of the new customers, who turned out to be a huge fan of Jiraiya's works and was interrogating him about when he would be releasing a new novel. Jiraiya kept waving off the man's questions with an unenthusiastic "Need to do some more research for the new one…"

Temari sighed and thought she may well burst into tears before the end of the night. Forget the fact she hadn't cried since she was about twelve… the amount of dislike coursing between the younger two men was about to break her personal record… she took Kankuro's arm when he'd finished serving Jiraiya and his fan and the fan's friend another drink. "C'mere." She mumbled, pulling him into the office at the back of the building, her boss, a stout, balding man in his forties glared at her with all his might- his gaze had about as much effect as a small kitten's, so he was ignored for the most part… he wouldn't fire her anyway, he was too afraid of her.

"Can you lay off Shikamaru, please?"

"Can you leave my office, please?" the boss called to her. She gave him a 'Just a minute' sign.

"He's a-"

"I don't want to hear what he is. Just knock it off. Okay?!"

"You deserve so much better than him!"

Temari's faint laugh was echoed by that of their boss- the glare that she directed at him was much more effective than his own, "We'll be out soon. No, Kankuro, I really don't… and it's my decision. Leave him, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"I want my office back now…"

Temari grabbed Kankuro by the collar as though it was all his fault they were in there, "Sorry." She apologized.

"Where is he now?" she wondered aloud as they re-entered the bar

Jiraiya gave her an extremely saddened, yet somehow triumphant look, "Don't look now, love. But your boyfriend and his little piece on the side are just over there", he nodded in their direction.

Temari turned in slow-motion toward the spot that Jiraiya indicated: outside the door stood Shikamaru in a tight embrace with a skinny blonde girl in purple. Temari could hardly tell where one ended and the other began. A humiliated blush swept across her cheeks as quickly and surely as white-hot rage rose in her gut. Not simply because Shikamaru was cheating, but also because the lazy fuck had never once held her like that…

She wanted to scream and cry and throw things. She wanted to tell Jiraiya to let go of an outraged and struggling Kankuro's arm and let him have a decent shot at the bastard… no, she wanted to punch the snot out of him herself. But she didn't. Instead, she sighed and walked through the door of the bar, tapped the tiny blonde on the shoulder (neither of them had noticed her in their 'passion'- whatever that was) and, when the girl turned to Temari in terror, she hugged her.

"Thank you so… so much!" she laughed, and walked back inside. Shikamaru stared after her, gaping. "He's your problem now, sweetheart!" she called over her shoulder.

Every customer in the pub applauded her as she entered, the green-clad one even standing and giving her a very theatrical thumbs up- Temari grinned at them.

* * *

Six hours later, Temari decided to take her time locking the front door of their apartment behind herself and her brother- just in case. Checking it and double checking all the locks, keeping her face from view; she was perfectly fine, of course, just a little tired, and judging by the way her eyes kept watering, and her throat felt a little constricted; she was coming down with a cold. Satisfied with her lock-checking, she wandered slowly into the kitchen; she felt very tired for some reason, this was unusual. Even for a late working night. She swallowed a yawn, gods, her throat felt strange. Kankuro eyed her from his spot on the couch. She could sense his steady gaze on the back of her head.

"Do you want a drink?" she mumbled, staring out the kitchen window. She didn't feel like meeting his eyes.

"Temari…"

"_Do you want a drink_?" she asked a little louder, her tone was far harsher than she had intended.

He stood up, walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to tug her back to the couch. "Come on; sit down."

Temari really didn't feel like sitting down just then. She felt more like punching Kankuro for being so 'caring'- whatever that was... "No, don't feel like it." she pushed him away 'I think I'll go to bed…' she started to walk towards their room; she was fine, of course, just tired. Before she could stalk off to her room and sleep; Kankuro pulled her back and hugged her. It was the last thing she wanted to happen; but perhaps, she thought later, the thing she needed most. _I have a record to uphold_, she thought stubbornly, a record she'd held since the age of about twelve… some lazy, insensitive, cheating bastard wasn't going to break that record; she was too proud of it. She was too proud, full stop. Somewhere, subconsciously, she knew that Shikamaru was only a small portion of what was making her feel so put-out- but she had thought that if she didn't acknowledge the fact she should be upset, then she would be alright, she would just keep going… but now…

…now…

Her hands fisted into Kankuro's shirt as she began to cry…


	3. Chapter 3

**Politics over Coffee.**

**A/N: this chapter does border on crack-esque for a while at least. I can never seem to veer away from making myself (if not anyone else) laugh. (It's in my nature to pretend that I am actually witty.) A large hunk of this chapter's just mentioning characters that may be included later in the story, you know, adding to the subplots… it's largely random banter, but it is of some concern to the main plot.**

"Morning Sunshine!" Kankuro laughed as Temari accidentally rolled right off the couch and smacked her head into the coffee table.

"Owww…" she groaned, "wha- didn't I even go to bed?"

Kankuro shook his head, "You sort of… passed out after a bit- my shirt was soaked through by the way. I just left you there. Father asked what was wrong with you- he's making breakfast now."

Temari rubbed her eyes and sat back on the couch before the true implications of those statements came to her. If she had actually fallen asleep while crying- that meant she had made a total dick of herself the night before… "Sorry about your shirt… and stuff…"

"Don't be an idiot. I'll clean it."

Okay, first problem solved… sort of; if she had been left on the couch by Kankuro. That meant that he was the one who supplied the blankets and pillow she'd found herself with... "Thank you." She gestured vaguely to the blankets "For everything…"

"Don't be an idiot. It was cold."

Right… a lot of unspoken understanding in that statement, too. (That was good. It meant she didn't have to get all… mushy); and if Father had asked her what was wrong… that must mean he was pretending to care, which must mean he'd done something wrong recently. "Has the dragon lost his job?"

"Don't be an idiot. He saw you crying. He's not that stupid."

Hmm… and the dragon was making breakfast… that meant… "Oh! Jesus in a moshpit! You let him COOK?!"

"Don't be an idiot. I just let him put the kettle on so that he could feel useful."

"Ah, Temari! You're awake! Kankuro helped me-" (Kankuro rolled his eyes) "-make you some breakfast."

Temari blinked several times, and then looked up at her father. Wow, she hadn't seen him smile since third grade. "What have you done?"

He laughed (actually laughed) "Nothing. I just wanted to take care of my best girl for a change. You do too much around here."

_Damn straight _she thought. "No. Seriously. You haven't called me 'best girl' since I was about three…" he shrugged in response.

"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to." He sat down next to her, "I saw you were upset last night. Did… you want to talk about anything?"

Temari was officially frightened. Kankuro was looking after _her_ and her father was _cooking her breakfast_… Next thing she knew and Gaara would be telling her to seek psychiatric help and Tenten would come in and complain to her about how much better Temari's love live was than hers… no, wait. Her best friend's love life couldn't get any better. She had the Grand Lord of Subservient Over-compensating Fatalistic Pretty Boys shagging her at every given opportunity. Paris Hilton's love life wasn't even that good… but Temari really did need someone to talk to. She stared at her father again. "Daddy… I don't even want to talk to _myself_ about this kind of thing…"

"Well, if you were talking to yourself about this; you might be seeing Gaara a little more often, Temana."

"Her name is Temari, father. And no, she wouldn't. Gaara's coming home today."

"Not 'til six tonight, right? It's only 7am now…"

"Oh, fine! Tonight, then!"

She decided she'd have to call her later (Tenten, not Paris), not to talk about her problems, just someone to talk to other than these crackpots from the Twilight Zone that had replaced her father and brother; even if Neji was there, at least it was someone acting in-character.

"Even Sesame Street characters know how to tell the difference between Day and Night, Konkura."

"Puppets don't have BRAINS!"

"What's for breakfast?" Temari interrupted the two men. Sesame Street? Gods, how childish.

**12345678901234567890**

"That stupid PRICK!!" Tenten roared.

It was one of the things about her best friend that she loved the most; Tenten was quiet and subservient- so long as you weren't a man. If you had a penis- most likely she'd chop it off the very second you crossed her. She was a tad like one of Temari's other work colleagues, Sai, in the penis-obsessed department, only _he_ was a little less violent. Right now, she was likely to shove Shikamaru's removed appendage right up his left nostril if he came within four hundred yards of the coffee shop they were sitting at. Neji was sitting there too; being a good little boy; Neji was often cocky and proud around everyone, including his girlfriend- but deep down he was terrified of her and knew when not to act like he existed, possibly- he would say- because it was his fate to be silent in times like these (Neji was a bit… new-age; with long, hippy hair, weird eyes and deep-seated psychological problems that prevented him from acting as though he had any family to speak of). Temari wondered what factory made Nejis and if they did lay-by orders. She would sue the 'Shikamaru' factory; but the lawyers were just too damn clever…

"He's not stupid, Tenten."

"He left _you_." Piped up Robo-Neji. Damn, those programmers were good, and yes, Temari was perfectly aware that she had an over-active imagination. "Look, I have a friend who'd love to meet you- his name is-"

"Somehow I don't think that Lee is her type." Tenten biffed her boyfriend over the back of the head.

"He'd never do _that_ to her, though." Neji argued, crossing his arms.

"Yes, but we must remember that- after the disastrous Sakura complex that he had- which ended rather badly." Tenten said as a side note to Temari "Poor guy was a mess when she said she'd rather sleep with an inanimate object."

Temari blinked- what a bitch! "Did she actually say that?"

"Would I lie to you?" Tenten said innocently.

"Yes."

"Well, anyway. Sakura's really into that Uchiha guy, so she rather rudely rejected Lee."

Temari blanched, "Itachi?" and then blushed, her thoughts kept jumping to that man.

Tenten stared at her "There's another? I only knew of Sasuke."

"Yeah, Itachi's older… he's… uh… anyway, what happened to Lee?"

"He became rather, er, partial towards, um, things that were not, well, Sakura-ish at all"

"By Not Sakura-ish, you mean…"

"Not anything with breasts."

"Ah…"

"That's why I believe homosexuality is a choice." Tenten declared.

Neji frowned, "No it isn't. It's fate."

Tenten petted his head "Of course it is Neji-bear…"

"I gotta agree with Neji on this; I mean; Kankuro was playing with dolls way back when he was little." Temari said, loudly and clearly, she knew her brother was coming.

"Oh, shut up! Hey Neji, hey Tenten. What are you doing?"

"Healing bitch session" Tenten explained "joining us?"

"Sure." He sat down and ordered a coffee from a passing waitress; Neji's forever- blushing cousin, Hinata. Her employment was half the reason that they (being Temari and her brothers, Neji's whole family, Tenten, Lee- whom Temari had yet to meet, and old classmates of Gaara's Kiba and Shino) all went to that coffee shop. To abuse the hell out of anyone who dared bother Hinata- they were all far too overprotective of her- but she was so adorable...

"When do you finish work, Hinata?" Neji asked.

"A-after I bring K-Kankuro's coffee I can leave…I guess." She looked at the floor.

"Join us, then!" Tenten squealed.

"O-okay."

"So, Kankuro" Neji began as Hinata walked away, "how's the love life?"

Temari snorted into her coffee. Kankuro glared at her "Pleasantly nonexistent thank you." He said, slapping Temari a little too hard on the back when she began choking on her beverage.

She coughed a few times, then straightened up and laughed openly at Kankuro. "_Pleasantly_ nonexistent?! I wasn't entirely with it yesterday but I do remember you saying something along the lines of a very bitter 'at least he knows you exist'."

"You were hearing things."

"No I wasn't!"

"Ooh, who is she?" Tenten leaned forward onto the table, and then caught herself "I mean, or he?"

"It's a SHE!" Kankuro confirmed rather defensively, going incredibly red. "I don't know what _amazing_ complex Temari seems to have that prevents her from coming to terms with my heterosexuality but I assure you that only if- yes, only if- some sort of life-or-death crisis that could not be prevented any other way faced me then- and ONLY then"

Hinata re-entered the room-

"-I would willingly sleep with a man!"

-and turned bright red.

"H-here is your co- coffee. Kankuro… uhm… how are you toga- I mean, today?"

--

"…and then- and then he said "Good, god! I like women!" and sort of… tomato-ed away." Temari explained to a horrified audience of Gaara and Itachi, they were waiting for Tsunade to show up and give Gaara the OK to go home.

"Where is he now?" Gaara asked, concerned.

"Well, when I left to come here and get you he was- sort of… hiding under the doona of his bed. He said he never wanted to see the light of day again…"

"So…I suppose that this crush that he was so determined to confirm the gender of was the Hyuuga girl?" Itachi asked.

"Apparently… oh, by God's giant overalls… I just feel like the worst person ever, now."

Itachi quirked an eyebrow at her choice of words, "How were you supposed to know?"

"I'm his sister! I'm supposed to be in-the-know about all these thingies…"

"You don't suppose he's trying to suffocate himself with that doona…" Gaara mused aloud as Tsunade entered, followed by a stupidly good-looking teenage boy that could only be identified at first glance as a certified 'mini-Itachi'.

"Sasuke!" Itachi cried, clearly ecstatic to see his younger brother. Temari immediately noted how differently he acted around Sasuke. "How are you? Was the trip okay? How is-"

"Breathe, Itachi." Sasuke said in a cool voice. Tucking his aviator sunglasses into the front of his designer shirt, Temari rolled her eyes, _rich boys_…

"Right… right… sorry. Oh! This is my friend, Gaara" Sasuke nodded politely to Gaara, Gaara nodded back- he didn't seem too fond of the boy, "and this is my fr- this is his- er, well, this is Temari." Itachi finished lamely.

Sasuke took his time looking at Temari with intense, black eyes. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, wondering why she felt far more comfortable under the scrutiny of Itachi's unusual red eyes than Sasuke's common dark eyes. "Hello, Temari." He said, looking her up and down again.

"Hi!"

"Gaara." Sasuke nodded again to Gaara.

"Sasuke" Gaara mimicked him; anyone who didn't know Gaara as well as Temari did never would have picked that he was being a smart ass. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself smiling, noticing Itachi doing the same thing.

"Tsunade" she nodded to the doctor who had just appeared in the doorway.

Tsunade merely gave them all an off-look, "So you're where Gaara gets his little snot attitude, then?"

Temari laughed, "Sure thing!"

"Where's your other brother?"

"God… don't ask." Gaara sighed,

Itachi snorted, and then turned to his brother, "Sasuke, how have things been, er, going at home?"

Sasuke's proud gaze rested on Itachi, "Fine, Itachi. There's no reason for concern." He said firmly, "You worry about things here."

"I was just asking."

"I know what you were implying, Itachi. Don't worry about anything but getting better, please." For such kind words, Temari couldn't help but sense a lack of caring from the younger Uchiha.

"Hey, man, he just wanted to know how things wer-!" Temari muffled a pained yell with a coughing fit; Gaara had stomped on her foot.

"_Never… ever get between an Uchiha fight_." He hissed in her ear, Temari blinked, that was a fight? Any disagreements in her house weren't even considered a fight unless someone (usually Kankuro) came away bleeding heavily, all these two were doing was glaring. They weren't even yelling…

Gaara pointedly picked up his things and said clearly, from a safe distance, "I'll visit Itachi, yeah?"

As they walked outside with Tsunade (who rather grumpily informed them that she was to observe their home life for a while to ensure that it was stable enough) Temari turned to Gaara. "They're not really fond of each other, are they?"

Gaara crossed his arms and looked at the ground "You have _no_ idea."

Tsunade piped up "I probably shouldn't tell you two. But I've been looking after Itachi as well. Their father has a lot to do with his condition. And the relationship between him and his brother, I believe. If he's not cold and distant he's just plain cruel. It's not good for a kid to have their father randomly withdraw affection the way

that man does… I'm surprised Sasuke turned out as healthy as he did. And that kid's far from normal." Temari rolled her eyes, good-naturedly, she sure knew about bad dads.

"Itachi says his father is trying to kill him." Temari said inquisitively.

Tsunade shook her head solemnly, "It was the other way around, Itachi tried to kill Fugaku."

Temari nearly tripped over… so Itachi really wasn't to be trusted. She was almost embarrassed to find herself thinking so much about him. "Is that why Sasuke seems to hate him?"

"Sasuke tries to treat Itachi like an idiot. He's overcompensating for the horror of having his brother try to kill a family member; he wants to believe his brother is _completely_ unstable- that he's utterly incapable of rational thought. This isn't true; as you well know. Itachi's an incredibly intelligent kid. If you ask me; there's a lot more going on that even Sasuke and I don't know about. I'm not saying Itachi's not deluded, or lying… or both- but it's all very suspicious. Sasuke's showing textbook signs of denial."

Temari took this in. Probably, she told herself, reading more into the information Tsunade had given her than she was meant to. But why would a psychiatrist reveal her patient's secrets like that? Although Tsunade wasn't exactly conventional in her practices, there were limits…

"Sounds a lot like you're doing a lot of looking after Sasuke as well." She chided.

"I am…" the doctor responded mysteriously.


	4. Chapter 4

"Naruto, can I look at your phone?"

"Sure thing, Gaara, go crazy…"

All went silent, Lee's eyes went entirely too round. Gaara turned an alarming shade of red and Kankuro stopped mid-step, turned slowly and eyeballed Naruto…

"I mean… er…"

Kankuro continued walking slowly, this blond kid with the fox-like grin was ticking him off, so was the green thing that appeared every now and then in the kitchen to offer help with dinner (usually knocking things over- and therefore not helping- when he did so), but he wasn't going to say anything; seeing as they were Gaara's friends. And- by the looks of it: just the things he needed right now- Gaara seemed a hundred times more relaxed in their company. They were following Tsunade's tips (orders, more like) carefully and Temari had suggested that Gaara invited a friend or two over that day, as it had been a while since he'd had company his own age.

Now, Kankuro knew that he was a rather eccentric guy; he had arguments with cakes, he was afraid of Power Rangers and he befriended masked porn-readers in bars (the young, but grey-haired man from the bar, Kakashi, had become somewhat his equivalent to Temari's friend, Jiraiya); but he had limits. He didn't violently vomit the colours green or orange on himself, for instance, like these two seemed to make a habit of doing; he didn't have a bowl-cut (thank Christ); he didn't say "BELIEVE IT!!!" at the end of every. Fucking. Sentence…

Kankuro rubbed his temples as another object went flying in the kitchen. They were Gaara's friends. He would suffer. He was a good big brother. He would survive.

"Agh! You're such a klutz, Lee! BELIEVE IT!"

"Temariiiiiiii" Kankuro began to wail, "I need you!"

Temari emerged from the kitchen with a hand full of porcelain, followed closely by a profusely apologizing Rock Lee.

"It's really fine, Lee. Just relax! Just… go into the lounge room, please."

"I will replace it as soon as I can, Temari!" Lee flashed a determined grin at her, sticking out his thumb.

"You can't, sweetie, it was a family heirloom."

Kankuro paled. Gaping at Temari like a mad fish of some description- she rolled her eyes and waved it off.

"Lee. Lounge room. Sit. Now."

Lee nodded and obediently seated himself next to Gaara. Gaara automatically shifted closer to Naruto, who grinned. "Temari, you're one scary lady when you wanna be! Even Sakura can't carry out orders with that much authority, believe it!"

In the distance, the sound of Kankuro sobbing could be heard.

"When are you planning on coming back to school, Gaara? We all miss you!" Lee asked.

Gaara shrugged in response. Not looking Lee in the eye…

An awkward silence ensued for a minute or so (silence being defined as silent, except for Lee's constant chatter) until Kankuro indicated subtly for Temari to follow him to the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"Leave them for a while. I just want to watch."

Temari eyed him curiously, "What for?"

"It's just… yeah, leave them."

She shrugged, And leaned to the side, eying the three younger boys still on the couch. To any other than her trained eye- Gaara had eyes for no one but Naruto, but she was well aware that he was well aware of everyone in the house. "Sure, whatever."

"Does Gaara look a little… into Naruto… to you?"

"Well he seems to enjoy his company a lot-… he- he…" Temari glanced at her brother. Then at Naruto. Then at Kankuro. She blinked slowly, then repeated the process before hissing "_No_!"

"So I'm not going crazy, then? You can see it, too?"

"_No… freakin' way!_"

"Aw, calm down Temari, Gaara might be gay,- but there's still me, you'll be an aunty one day!"

"Oh, like you'll ever get laid…"

"I hate you (but you have a point, and I hate children, too)."

"Yeah, yeah, it's mutual, whatever… but… what the _hell_!" she whispered, watching her brother and his friend (boyfriend?) intently. Naruto was chatting animatedly to Lee, who was chatting animatedly to Gaara, who was staring pointedly at Naruto- Lee didn't seem deterred. In fact, his eyes were locked on Gaara. Temari wondered vaguely if he was a little on the dim side of life.

* * *

**XxXxXxX**

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Temari read the fifteen-year-old banner over the bar in a falsely cheery voice "Shouldn't you be releasing an… _extra special_ book today?" She asked the wall.

A booming, cheerful, and clearly drunk voice answered "No, my beautiful friend! _I_, Jiraiya, world renowned super-perv (and part-time author) am working on a non romance!"

Temari very nearly dropped the heart-shaped apron she was tying around her waist. "You've had a few too many, don't you think…"

"I am being entirely serious, regardless of the copious amount of alcohol that is slowly seeping through my bloodstream. It is an action/ thriller!"

"Name one of the characters after me- okay! Just an extra, nothing too big." Temari laughed, "I wouldn't want too big a part in the movie, after all…" she added sarcastically.

Jiraiya roared with laughter, "Better still, my dear- the heroine is _based_ off you!"

This time, Temari did drop her apron. "Now I know you've had too many. What sparked this madness, I ask you?!"

"Because, 'cept for 'suunaaadee, you are my very, very, bestest friend!" Jiraiya slurred, bloodshot eyes sliding shut.

"Oh, god…" Temari sighed, folding her arms. Missing the mention of Tsunade's name in her shock. "What am I going to do with you?"

As if in response, Jiraiya slumped over the bar and snored loudly. Temari rolled her eyes and fetched a glass from the cupboard beneath her, filling it at the sink and dumping it over the white-haired man's head. He merely grumbled at her. She shrugged and continued cleaning the bar around him, she'd take him home at closing time (after a certain amount of time working at the bar, employees were given a spare key to the writer's house- this spoke sad volumes about how much time he spent there).

* * *

After staggering under Jiraiya's weight for five blocks, dumping him in a pile of snow on the fourth to wake him, then assisting him into his house- Temari was looking forward to nothing more than getting home, taking a well-earned bath and curling up in bed. The very millisecond she spied Kankuro's mischievous grin, however she knew that wouldn't happen anytime soon.

"What?"

He simply grinned, and indicated the pile of letters (bills) on the tiny kitchen bench. She ambled over to the pile, on top of which a red envelope sat, with her name on it in beautifully neat cursive.

"Go on, read it!" he gestured excitedly to the envelope. She opened it tentatively; it was a card, decorated elaborately with pictures of hearts in many shapes and sizes;

"A Valentine's card?! Are you sure it's for me?" Kankuro rolled his eyes, "I mean, there are plenty of other Temaris in Suna, surely…" she opened the card as though it was trapped;

_I couldn't help but notice how beautiful you are when you're in danger- but it's not my fault that I love you._

"What- what the hell is this?"

Kankuro shrugged, brows knitted in concern.

Temari frowned, it sounded almost like a… threat. Placing the card carefully on the bench- "Kankuro, do me a favour: stay here." she ordered softly, retrieving her little gun from her bag and creeping slowly into the next room, and the next, weapon raised. Eventually, after checking over cupboards, under beds, in the shower and any other, human-sized places in the house, Temari was forced to conclude there was no one else inside, "Lock the door, Kankuro."

He did as he was told, "Should we call the police?"

She rubbed her temples, "No. They're no good to us here. The cops would rather all of Suna rot than actually help us. That… businessman- in Konoha… He's corrupted the whole system by the looks of things." She sighed, "What's his name again?"

"Uchiha, isn't it?"

Temari faltered. "Yeah… yeah, that's it…" she replied in a strained voice.


End file.
